Born Into Addiction

The insatiable need for drugs and alcohol seized Kristin from an early age. Her parents were drug addicts and criminals while she and her siblings were young. For her whole life, addiction ran wild.

At 13, Kristin moved from Arkansas to Des Moines with her parents. Her two older brothers and father were in and out of prison, while she and her younger sister had to learn to live with an unstable mother.

Kristin attended DMACC after high school, hoping to turn her life around. She earned an associate business degree while living with her mother and sister. Despite the tension at home, she landed a full-time job helping families in a temporary shelter.

But the job didn’t bring stability. Both Kristin and her younger sister became pregnant, and her mother continued to use drugs and bring strangers home. Kristin was trying to raise her new son, Logan, but lost custody of him because of their unsafe living conditions. Heartbroken, she got into a serious fight with her mother and left home with nowhere to sleep except a tent.

Kristin said she avoided shelters for her safety and sobriety. “When you’re not strong enough to say no to drugs and stuff, and someone [in a shelter] comes along and glorifies it; you can’t say no because you’re a drug addict,” Kristin said. “All the progress you made is wasted… you don’t like yourself [even] more the next day.’ ‘

“Joppa helped me get this tent because I didn’t want to go back to the drug houses … that would have been my only option,” Kristin said.

After being homeless for a couple of years, Kristin met her boyfriend, Jason, who had an apartment through Anawim. He let Kristin stay with him, but it violated his lease rules, and he was evicted. This started a downward spiral, and Jason ended up taking his own life in 2019. “He was my best friend. It wasn’t the healthiest relationship, but he was still the only person I had. I lost myself and let him beat me, treat me like crap, take all my stuff,” she explained. Kristin struggled greatly with grief over Jason and tried to kill the pain with substances.”I was always taught to get high and stay drunk. That’s how you deal with things. That’s what I did. And I don’t want to do that anymore… I don’t want to live in a tent”

While working through her grief, Kristin’s Circle-of-Friends from Joppa helped her get on the right path. “Joppa makes me feel like I can breathe for a second. I don’t have to get overwhelmed by things like water and something to eat… It’s the small things that make it a lot more bearable,” said Kristin.

She writes quotes on her tent to help her persevere, including, “Kristin, build a life that you don’t have to regularly escape from,” and “Let go and Let God!”

Kristin is now housed and completely sober. She still comes to Joppa to seek help for her mother, who continues to struggle with drug addiction and homelessness.